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Dr. Mary Kroetz's Research Area

My research explores the genetic pathways that promote sexual differentiation during
an organism’s development. The nematode worm, C. elegans is ideally suited to address my research questions because of its simple anatomy
and well-characterized cell division patterns, and because many of the genes that
control C. elegans development are also conserved in other animals. During embryogenesis, the reproductive
tract in C. elegans starts as two cells that are identical in the two sexes. Subsequently these cells
divide and differentiate to form dramatically different organs: either a male or a
hermaphrodite gonad. Using cell-specific RNA-seq, I have identified genes that are
expressed predominantly in the developing gonad of one sex or the other. The two broad
questions that my laboratory is investigating are: What are the functions of these
genes in specifying development as one sex or the other? And how are these genes regulated
so that they are expressed only in one sex?

Specifically, my laboratory uses a breadth of molecular techniques to examine phenotypic
defects that result when these sex-biased genes are mutated. We make use of existing
mutations or generate new mutant alleles by CRISPR-Cas. We identify cis-acting regulatory
elements and trans-acting factors that are necessary for expression of these genes
in the appropriate sex and define the regulatory networks in vivo. We also use computer-based
approaches including bioinformatic analyses to guide and direct the genetic network
analyses.